New Stuff

Gah, when will I ever stop playing with my blog design? Probably never. I wanted to give All The Live Long Day a bit of a fall makeover and initially was only planning to add a new photo of myself and to change the background. But one thing led to another and I ended up with a new header and different text colours, too. I hope you like. 
Speaking of makeovers. I hope you approve of the new photos of this girl on the front page and in the About section. My friend Christina had found a voucher for a half price makeover session, so she and I went to partake in one of those afternoons where they give you free make-up and then take your pictures after, also for free. And then they start showing you the photos they have taken and the one free print that is included turns into a purchase of 3 more, just because you look kinda fabulous and are sure that your grandparents will appreciate a new photo of you... 
Christina and I were both really self-concious during the shoot, because photo poses are just awkward (too much bring-your-face-closer-to-the-wall, tilt-your-head, give-a-mile, cross-your-legs, straighten-your-back, would-you-like-to-change-into-your-second-set-of-clothes-here-in-this-room-where-there-is-no-screen-and-any-member-of-staff-could-just-open-the-door-on-you-like-that...).
But it was cool to see how it's done. The room where we were shot was only tiny, divided by a curtain to give space for two sessions at once. The walls were painted all in different colours and had different sections of wallpaper for a variety of photo backgrounds. In addition to that, there were various backdrops that could be rolled down from the ceiling and a few props like chairs, feather boas, guitars and such. Minimal equipment for maximum effect.
Here are the shots that I liked and ended up ordering:

Isn't Christina beautiful? She just has the kindest face! (Love you, girlfriend!) And the wrinkles around my eye and nose in picture 2?! I swear they are not normally there. I really am hoping that it really is just cakey make-up and not me being in denial about being ancient...

Here are the before photos of us girls, in which we are looking fairly fresh-faced (even if I say so myself):

And here are the "afters" in which we both look slightly orange:

The best thing about the whole makeover was the fact that Christina and I convinced our boys that they just needed to take us out after, what with us looking all prettyfied.

We met up at a fantastic old pub called the Cittie Of Yorke, where the boys had gotten themselves ready for their hot dates:

Christina & Rich and Marco & I

We then were taken to Smiths of Smithfield, the restaurant belonging to John Torode of Masterchef fame. The food was okay, but service was very, very slow. Which was a problem in so far that our husbands had fixed another item on our itinerary for the night...

KARAOKE!

The crazy boys had booked us a private room at a karaoke club! Excitement! Not just because it meant that I could step out of my heels... We had our own little juke box to pick the songs from and a bell to call for a waitress. 

I found that Mint Juleps help immensely with my singing skills... I believe Marco and I were doing "Islands In The Stream" when that photo was taken. Kenny + Dolly forever!

Of course there had to be some Pearl Jam, and then Christina and I sang "Reach", with Rich as our backup singer and dancer. You all remember S Club 7, right?

We had an excellent night! I am not 100% sure I'm ready for doing Karaoke in front of an audience other than my friends, but I would definitely do this again. And I thought both our husbands did so well with organizing this evening for us. Christina and I both agreed that we would like to make it a regular fixture. (Hint, hint, husbands!)

Finally, I will leave you with a gratuitous shot of my fancy makeover hair, just before I took all the pins out:

© Text & Photos - Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated).